10 May 2010

Mothers day premiere

if at first you dont succeed, try, try again. and i hope next mothers day we can do just that.

starting my mothers day off with a bang, X spent the hours of midnight-3a fussing and crying and refusing to sleep. we were all barely able to recover before she began another 3 hour stint from about 10a-1p. we were exhausted, grumpy, frustrated and looking for answers.

at christmas time, when we were home visiting, a friend handed off a book of hers she had been given when her baby was little. its called "secrets of the baby whisperer: how to calm, connect, and communicate with your baby" by tracy hogg. i had tried to leaf through it while pregnant, but its really not useful to do until your particular baby arrives. and now was the time we needed it, a jumping off point to seeking help to make things better/easier. we needed sleep to provide safe and reliable care to X.

basically, we found a few tips and ideas that were helpful. we had been, unknowingly, doing "kangaroo care" parenting and it was just a bit too demanding for us. we needed a little bit of a break, some alone time, and some free hands! of course, not everything in the book is something i will ascribe to, but those pieces of advice that were more intuitive were the easy ones to get on board with. so we tried a few things...and got an afternoon and evening of near deafening quiet. in other words, i received the gift of rest and partial sanity restoration for mothers day. which i guess is a pretty decent thing to have gotten.

i also couldnt stand my long hair anymore (it was always dangling in Xs face. plus it took extra time to shampoo and rinse and dry), so i gave myself a chop job. thinking back, it was probably brought on by a moment of britney spears-like insanity (minus the buzz cut). but i wanted the hair gone and i dont see a successful trip to the hair salon occurring anytime soon. and truthfully, my hair doesnt look too bad, if i do say so myself.

so, we didnt end up going anywhere or doing anything for mothers day, but we were able to get ourselves on a better path, which was much more important in the long run. i'll lobby for a brunch and matching mother/daughter outfits next year...

meh. i just cut it "straight" around the bottom. length went from a bit below the shoulders to a bit below my chin. i can post a pic when i get one. :) mostly it will be amusing for the next real stylist who cuts my hair. they are going to think i was recently let out of a mental asylum.

currently living in helsinki, finland

this blog is about life since leaving michigan. my husband and i left our home state in 2008 for jobs, travel, and adventure. together we've lived in ann arbor for 9 years, france for 9 months, halifax for 3.5 years, and we've now lived in finland for 2.5 years. our daughter (X) joined us in 2010, and our son (Y) joined us in 2014, so they are now part of the adventure...